


Toed The Line

by arimabat



Series: whole world's bringing me down [1]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Loki (Marvel), During Canon, Gen, Kamar-Taj (Marvel), Magic Battles, Mirror Dimension (Marvel), Negotiations, POV Karl Mordo, Post-Thor: The Dark World, Pre-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), of Doctor Strange (2016), only canon compliant if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-07-11 23:55:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15983192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arimabat/pseuds/arimabat
Summary: When the Ancient One senses a new source of magic on Earth, she and Mordo track it down to find an unexpected (and unwelcome) visitor.Or: the one where there’s a magic duel and some fun interspecies negotiation.





	Toed The Line

“Something has changed,” said the Ancient One.

Mordo looked over at her, slightly startled at the sudden end to the silence in the chamber. He had believed the Ancient One to still be occupied with her scrying. Ever so often, she would run what she described as a routine check of Earth’s spirits using the Orb of Agamotto, letting them flit through her consciousness to make sure that some of the more devious threats remained at bay. They had to be especially vigilant at the moment, of course, what with the looming threat of Kaecilius…

“Do we have a problem?” he asked, carefully placing his bookmark between the open pages and closing the book he had been perusing with barely a sound.

“Not a problem,” said the Ancient One, though Mordo wasn’t sure if he should be comforted by that. The Ancient One often had an… unusual understanding of what counted as a ‘problem’ as opposed to, perhaps, a ‘disturbance’ or a ‘possible solution that just _looks_ like a reality-swallowing tornado’.

“What’s the change? Not Kaecilius?”

They were sitting opposite from each other on either side of a low-standing table. It was early evening in Kamar-Taj, the red glint of the sun still bright enough that they had not turned on any lights. Three other masters were in the chamber too, but as often was the case they were quite happy to remain absorbed in their own business.

“It is not that, I do not think. Beyond that, I am not sure,” came the response. The Ancient One closed her eyes, holding her palms up. There were no noticeable signs of magic being performed except for an unusual breeze wafting past Mordo and making the few papers on the table flutter up and down.

After a minute or so, she opened her eyes again, brow furrowing slightly. “There’s a new presence in this world. One that’s been here before, I believe.”

“Dangerous?”

“Not necessarily. I didn’t sense anything malevolent… And it’s subtle enough that I wouldn’t even have noticed if I weren’t reaching out.”

Mordo was still trying to figure out how worried he should be about this. “Should I assume that we’re not dealing with a new human here? Not - say - a baby with particularly strong mystical energy?”

The Ancient One gave him a look tinged with exasperation and he grinned in response. “No, not a baby, Master Mordo. More like a powerful magic-user who is attempting to hide their movements.”

“That does sound a little worrying.”

“It doesn’t have to be. Earth has become an ever more popular location in these last few years due to certain… eh, events.” The image of a huge metal worm crashing through New York flashed through Mordo’s mind as he took a moment to appreciate the Ancient One’s skill with euphemisms. “Perhaps they simply do not wish to be disturbed.”

“Will you respect that wish?”

The Ancient One pressed her lips together. “On the whole, I don’t know that we can take that risk. Especially given Kaecilius’ recent actions - if this is an ally of his, or something worse… Besides, the familiarity of the magic’s signature does… trouble me. I cannot quite place it, but…”

Mordo nodded, not exactly alarmed but in fact a little relieved that they could conclusively settle this matter one way or the other. It would probably just be some wayward sorcerer from another galaxy who had fallen out of favour with local authorities or was trying to avoid their family drama or… whatever, but it didn’t hurt to be sure. “And how do you wish to proceed?”

“I thought perhaps you would like to accompany me as I attempt to track down the source of this disturbance.”

“And leave our newest recruit unsupervised?” asked Mordo, a thin smile forming.

The expression was mirrored by the Ancient One. “I doubt he’ll be able to cause too much trouble in such a short time. I will instruct Master Hamir to keep an eye on him.”

Personally, Mordo suspected that Strange would be quite capable of evading Hamir’s watchful gaze. But they would not be gone for long, if all went well. Even the arrogant doctor shouldn’t be capable of burning down the entire place in a few days.

Better track down the mysterious visitor, then.

* * *

As it happened, it proved easy for the Ancient One to track back the magical signature. Apparently, no other precautions had been taken. Whoever the newcomer was, they must have expected to remain undetected.

A mistake.

When Mordo stepped through the portal, he had to blink a few times to adjust to the dim light. He heard a faint splash as his soles hit the ground - looking down, he could faintly make out puddles. As the Ancient One stepped next to him and the portal closed with a small fizz, Mordo took in the sight of an underpass, dirty and barely lit by a lantern and the fading evening light, with the odd bit of graffiti sprayed on the crumbling walls. The air stuck to them, a damp blanket that was still surprisingly chilly when a breeze managed to sneak into the enclosure. And a few metres away, a shadow who had been walking in the other direction but had spun around to face them, face hidden in the dusk’s gloom but already leaned into what was unmistakably a combat stance.

Some part of Mordo questioned why they couldn’t have entered a little further away, perhaps not drawing the stranger’s attention so directly. Perhaps the Ancient One believed their presence would be immediately detected and their target would disappear into thin air before they got the chance to question him or her.

She hadn’t told him.

But he couldn’t waste time with any more speculation. The stranger had taken barely a moment to assess them and apparently deemed them dangerous enough to launch an immediate attack.

With an unintelligible noise, their assailant jumped forward. Letting out a slight grunt, Mordo called up an Eldritch whip to parry a knife that flashed towards his throat even as the man whirled around, stringy black hair flying around his head to throw a knife at the Ancient One.

She dropped to the ground and Mordo summoned upon his boots to step up - up and up again - so that he was above their assailant and managed to let a new flail of magic fly down at him - only to be blocked by a new dagger as the stranger looked up at him.

In the orange light, Mordo got a clear look at the man’s face. His heart flipped before beating very fast indeed. That was _Loki_. Even as his mind tried desperately to process this unwelcome revelation, the man spun on his heel and kicked up, hard enough to make Mordo spin around as he flew backwards and only just managed to dig into the air with his boots on time to prevent accidentally breaking his neck. After a second, the boots’ magic was released and he was dropped to the ground, feeling his bones shudder as feet impacted concrete.

In the mean time, Loki had countered another attack from the Ancient One and as he next faced Mordo, a green shimmer passed over him. Where before, he had been dressed in formal human clothes, he was now wearing his Asgardian armour. A little looser and less ornamental than Mordo remembered, but definitely the green and the gold that had adorned the god all those years back. Mordo gritted his teeth as he forced his slightly aching muscles to obey him, needing to ready himself for the coming onslaught.

Several illusions of Loki spun up, each with identical leers. The Ancient One summoned an Eldritch Whip and lashed it in a wide circle that made the illusions flicker green when coming into contact with the orange sparks. At the same time, Mordo used a duplication spell and several entirely solid doubles closed in on the real Loki, who looked pleasingly startled at this development.

But he quickly recovered, throwing knives with frightening speed at each of the duplicates before they could close in on him. Even though the duplicates managed to summon up mandalas to protect themselves, Loki managed to spin away and Mordo briefly lost sight of him. When they both saw him again, the Ancient One charged at him with a mandala of her own, but ran right through him. Mordo looked around in confusion at the seemingly empty tunnel, only able to just dodge Loki when he tried to stab him from behind. It was like he had just appeared from nowhere.

Mordo cursed as his duplications collapsed and the god advanced again. In the corner of his eye, he could make out more illusions between himself and the Ancient One, clearly intended as distraction. Before the Ancient One could dispose of them, the real Loki splayed the palm on one hand in her direction and she flew back, hitting the underpass wall with a small crunch and falling onto damp stone.

Two more knives had appeared in the god’s hands - apparently he had an unlimited supply of those - and as he made a slashing motion Mordo just about got a mandala up in time, the knife impacting the orange symbols with a sharp crack. Loki snarled in obvious frustration before letting go off the knife and lashing out with his bare palm at the shield, his hand enveloped in a slightly golden light an instant before impacting. The shield seemed to melt, dropping to the ground in an orange stream of magical power and Loki grinned as a new knife was now free to descend on Mordo.

But he was thrown back by the Ancient One who kicked him hard enough that he stumbled back. She gestured with her hands and the world fractured before rearranging itself into the familiar mirror dimension. Loki had briefly buckled over but straightened again, narrowed eyes darting to and fro. Mordo was strongly reminded of a cornered cat. He summoned mandalas and once again stood in a combat-ready stance, prepared for another round.

“What do you want?” asked Loki in what could best be described as a tight hiss.

The Ancient One, still looking perfectly serene despite having just been thrown against a wall, summoned a mandala of her own. “The better question is what do _you_ want.”

“I have a long list,” said Loki, who for now remained weaponless as he focused his attention on the two humans. “For now, I’d prefer it if random mortals didn’t decide to disturb me for no reason.”

“ _For no reason_?” repeated Mordo incredulously. “You do realise that you tried to _invade_ this world a mere five years ago!”

“I do seem to recall something of the sort,” came the dry response. “Doesn’t mean you have to jump me and attempt to trap me in a pocket dimension.”

“How exactly would you have us respond?” asked the Ancient One, something approaching amusement in her tone.

“With a little more hospitality, for a start. If you insist on waylaying me.”

Mordo’s magic flared a little brighter in response to his irritation. “You think you can demand _hospitality_ when you slaughtered our people without restraint?”

“You _could_ just let me go about my business.”

“Not until you’ve answered our questions.” _If at all_. “Surrender your weapons and this doesn’t have to get any messier.”

“Is that supposed to scare me?” A short laugh. “Call it off now. You’re hopelessly outmatched.”

“Says the one trapped in a pocket dimension,” said the Ancient One.

“You think _you_ can trap _me_?” asked Loki, now sounding rather incredulous himself. He shook his head. “Fine, then. Have it your way.”

Loki did not move but the shards of the mirror dimension rearranged themselves, small triangles folding in on themselves as their white light flickered green and started to close in on Mordo and the Ancient One. In the next instant, Loki himself seemed to fracture and disappear all together as a small ripple passed through the outer bounds of the dimension, the rest of the tunnel dropping away until the two humans stood on a small platform surrounded by a landscape of small mirrors, reflecting them as well as dozens of illusions of Loki. Mordo let out a quick string of expletives. Before either of them could act in more meaningful a way, Loki stepped on the platform, hands in pockets with a grin on his face, now barely a metre away from them.

“Word of advice - don’t try to trap someone in a world of mirrors if they’ve been playing with dark energy for ten of your lifetimes.”

“Get us out, now,” muttered Mordo, even as he prepared to summon a larger shield that could temporarily protect the two of them. The Ancient One made the motion with her hands and as the portal appeared and the spell folded back in on itself, Loki pounced with a small snarl. All three of them tumbled through as Mordo summoned the shield, enveloping the two of them. Loki impacted with a shrill buzzing sound and was thrown back as they all landed on the floor in the familiar surroundings of the London sanctum. The orange light disappeared and they stood unprotected again. And again, Loki’s gaze took in this new environment quickly before turning back to the humans.

“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that. But if you keep challenging me, you _will_ lose.”

“Or you will,” said the Ancient One evenly. “Perhaps instead of trying out, we could set our weapons aside for the moment, and simply talk. In a civilised manner.”

There was no way Loki was going to agree to this, Mordo thought, as he mentally steeled himself for a new attack. At least they were on home turf now, in a place of power. This shouldn’t be _impossible_. Just very hard. But to Mordo’s immense surprise, Loki pressed his lips together before inclining his head.

“Fine. We talk. But if you try to constrain me or attack me or in any way try to trick or otherwise inconvenience me… You die. And so does everyone else under this roof.” He smiled at them like he had just told a particularly amusing joke.

The Ancient One managed to return the smile. “Very well. Would you like a seat? And perhaps some tea?”

She gestured at the small table surrounded by four chairs. Loki eyed it with undeniable suspicion but inclined his head and sat down.

After a motion from the Ancient One to Mordo to sit, he followed suit, a little taken aback by this latest turn in events. The Ancient One busied herself with the tea.

“You clearly know who I am,” said Loki, “while I am still in the dark as to who you two are. I wasn’t even aware Midgard had anyone left who has mastered even a little magic.”

Mordo couldn’t help but be wryly amused by the obvious condescension in his voice. “There’s an awful lot you don’t know about Earth.”

Loki spread his hands a little - Mordo watching them closely - before bringing them together and folding him in his lap. There was a slight shimmer as his armour faded and he once again wore human clothes. “Clearly,” he said, crossing his legs and considering Mordo with a half-smile. “How about we start with your names.”

He accepted the tea when the Ancient One handed it to him, as did Mordo. She sat down while Mordo answered.

“My name is Mordo,” he said. “This is the Ancient One.” That seemed to slightly amuse Loki, but he didn’t comment.

“So you decided to attack me just because I invaded your world a few years back?”

“Indeed,” the Ancient One said.

“ _You_ attacked _us_ ,” said Mordo in correction.

“Your appearance was a little startling.”

“Perhaps we should put this rough start down to miscommunication,” said the Ancient One.

For his part, Mordo still put the ‘rough start’ down to Loki destroying much of New York a few years back - his expression must have shown as much because Loki took one look at him and rolled his eyes.

“For what it’s worth,” he said, “I am _not_ going to try and invade this puny world again.”

“You seemed to be incredibly keen on it in the past,” said Mordo. “Why should we believe that anything has changed?”

“I’m here on business,” he said evenly. “As I’ve already told you. A number of Asgardian weapons have fallen into human hands, ones that could wreak great havoc if allowed to do so.”

“And that interests you… why?”

A flicker of something dangerous in the god’s eyes. “That is none of your concern.”

“It is,” said Mordo, temper flaring just a little. “The Masters of the Mystic Arts protect the Earth from -“

But he was interrupted by a snort. “ _Masters of the Mystic Arts_? How adorable.”

“I assure you,” said the Ancient One with her small smile still unchanged, “we are entirely serious. You have demonstrated the powerful magic you possess. But even you wouldn’t be arrogant enough to insist on challenging a group of sorcerers in their place of power, I don’t think.”

Loki’s jaw clenched and Mordo could _feel_ the power rippling just beneath the surface. But he hadn’t called upon it. Yet.

And he appeared to calm himself in a display of anger management that - as far as Mordo knew - had been wholly absent the last time he had been on Earth. Now, the god cocked his head to one side and his expression shifted to one of curiosity. “You… protect this realm, do you? Where exactly were you when I laid claim to your precious world a few short years ago?”

Whether Loki knew it or not, this was still very much a sore spot for Mordo. He took care to wipe his face as blank as he could, but even that seemed to alert Loki, whose gaze flickered to him as a smile alighted on his face before looking back at the Ancient One.

“We were not aware of the existential threat you posed to Earth before you opened your portal in New York,” said the Ancient One, unfazed by the question. “By which point, other defenders of Earth had already assembled.”

“So you left it to them?” Loki raised an eyebrow. “How very noble of you.”

“We don’t have to explain ourselves to you,” said Mordo.

“Of course not,” came the smooth response. “I simply thought you might have sensed the arrival of an item of such significance as the sceptre to your realm given your” - his gaze travelled sceptically around the room - “power.”

“We would have, if a fellow sorcerer hadn’t put considerable effort into concealing it,” said the Ancient One. She brought her cup to her lips, sipping gently as she continued to stare right at Loki in that disconcerting way she had. Not that it seemed to have much effect. “Not that your spells were for our benefit, I’m sure. Still, in the end it took us too long to realise that something was amiss.”

“And after I put on such a show in Stuttgart.”

A shrug. “If we rushed in every time there was an odd story in the news…”

“What an interesting battle that would have been,” said Loki, seeming quite amused at the thought. The temptation to punch him in his smug face was gradually getting stronger, even as Mordo tried to remind himself of how their last confrontation had gone. “Still, I suppose it all turned out rather well for you. Your world safe but _you_ can remain in the shadows. Midgard has managed to amass rather formidable defences for itself.”

“You don’t seem to be exactly filled with remorse by your own actions,” said Mordo. “Which makes me wonder why we should trust you that you speak the truth.”

He watched Loki sipping at his tea, still wondering whether the god was about to attack. Loki did look like he was half-considering it. Mordo could remember the footage he had seen of him a few years ago. The casual cruelty, the whiff of insanity that hung to his every movement. He had struck all of them as the kind of man who would set a world on fire just because he enjoyed seeing his own face in all the pretty colours the flames made. And now?

But Loki did not attack and sounded quite relaxed when he answered. “I don’t want any trouble,” he said. “It wouldn’t do any of us any good and frankly, I’d prefer to avoid attention from your realm’s authorities. Such as they are. So I will simply _tell_ you that there are Asgardian weapons on this world and that this is a problem I will deal with.”

“And then you’ll leave?” asked the Ancient One. Mordo looked at her in surprise. She couldn’t seriously be considering acquiescing, could she? But her face was as inscrutable as ever.

“That’s the plan, yes.”

“Why would you care who has those weapons?” asked Mordo. “Presumably they’ll lead to chaos, which is the kind of thing I would have thought you’d appreciate.”

Loki’s lips curled at the distaste in Mordo’s voice. “I do. Perhaps, I simply do not appreciate mortals trifling with weapons beyond them.”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have left that sceptre of yours lying around then.”

The god’s eyes widened slightly but Mordo’s jibe seemed to amuse him more than anything else. “Good point. Still, my little expeditions to your realm aren’t doing you any harm. I’m offering my _help_.” He looked ever more smug. “If anything, you should be thanking me.”

“ _Expeditions_?” asked Mordo. Then - “You’ve done this before.”

“And nothing sinister has happened.”

“As far as we know.”

“We’re hardly about to thank you,” said the Ancient One in a smooth interjection. “Especially if these weapons you speak of _are_ from your world.”

“It isn’t -“ Loki broke off, not finishing the sentence. His hands moved a little and Mordo tensed again, but he seemed to only be fidgeting. “Fine, if that’s how you prefer to think of it. I’m taking care of an Asgardian mess.”

“Those seem to have a regrettable tendency to impact our world.”

In his mind’s eye, Mordo once again saw the giant worm tearing through Manhattan.

“Do you expect me to apologise?” asked Loki with a slight sneer.

“It might be an appropriate gesture. To demonstrate good faith.”

There was the clenching of the jaw again, Loki’s restless gaze wandering from one to the other. But he slackened with a slight shrug, as if realising that it didn’t matter much either way. “Fine. I apologise for trying to rule your world and for all the dead humans. And I won’t do it again. Happy?”

“Not particularly,” muttered Mordo, earning him a stern look from the Ancient One.

“It’s a start,” she said. “You see, Loki, we don’t particularly want to make enemies with beings from other worlds, particularly powerful ones. Yet in your case, you were the one to open hostilities. In quite a spectacular fashion, as I remember it. Clearly, it would be in all our interests to part ways amicably, if you do end up making sure that those weapons don’t remain in human hands. I’ll agree to let you go, on one condition.”

Loki’s chin had dropped a little as his gaze remained fixed on the Ancient One, seeming more dangerous than ever. This time, Mordo was sure that she had gone to far and that the god would attack, but for what felt like the thousandth time Loki confounded his expectations, instead letting out a small huff and leaning back in his chair.

“What’s the condition?’

“Next time you engage in a little mission - if there is a next time - you tell us. The times when your people could wander Earth and do as they pleased has passed. Do you understand?” Simple words, but they all heard the hint of a threat in her tone.

“I wonder whether you handle Thor’s little visits the same way.”

It was the first time he had mentioned his brother, Mordo realised.

“Thor hasn’t attempted to invade Earth, but the principle stands for him too. In his case, we trust Earth’s more conventional authorities to handle things, but you’ll note that even Thor’s actions and a previous lack of supervision have come under question. It might be advisable to stay on top of recent developments on our planet if you don’t want any… trouble.”

A small frown had appeared on Loki’s face while Mordo wondered whether it was really advisable to suggest that Loki should read up on the Avengers’ recent troubles. _Earth’s defences aren’t great right now_ certainly counted as an interesting strategy for telling Loki to behave himself but entirely characteristic of the Ancient One’s mysterious ways, whose reasoning Mordo could only guess at nine times out of ten.

“Midgard’s growing up,” muttered Loki, seemingly to himself, before focusing again on the Ancient One. “Fine. Those terms are… acceptable to me.” He stood up in one smooth movement, Mordo and the Ancient One swiftly following suit.

Once clear of the table, the three of them faced each other again.

“And you’ll just let me walk out?” asked Loki with raised eyebrows.

“I’d even open a portal to where you were before… all this,” said the Ancient One.

“I wouldn’t say no to that,” said Loki. “Useful bit of magic.” His gaze rested on the sling ring and Mordo really hoped he was imagining the ever so slightly hungry look in his eyes.

“Then we can part on good terms.” The Ancient One proffered a hand and it took Mordo quite a bit of restraint not to raise his eyebrows in turn.

Loki had no such restraints. He stared at it, then back at the Ancient One, with eyebrows now approaching his hairline. But then, he stepped forward and accepted it.

They parted quickly enough. And - in a move that threatened to unhinge Mordo’s jaw from the rest of his person - Loki offered a hand to him in turn. But he didn’t let himself hesitate in accepting it. Cold fingers, gripping firmly but not tight enough to be painful and not long enough to be uncomfortable. But those glittering dark eyes were on him the whole time. Mordo didn’t blink, letting a hint of a smile play across his own mouth. This god would see no fear from him.

And so, the Ancient One created another portal, which Loki stepped through. Silence returned to the London Sanctum, the whiff of ordinariness creeping out of its recesses. But still, the echoes of the alien magic reverberated all around them. It wasn’t like an encounter such as that one could easily be forgotten. Not by the building, nor by the humans inside it.

* * *

“I’m surprised you let him go so easily.”

“I doubt we could have held him long anyway. Especially not with everything else that’s going on.”

“At least it wasn’t one of _his_ allies.”

“No. And hopefully Loki will not worry us again.”

Mordo couldn’t help but think that this would be too good to be true. “You took precautions?”

“A tracking spell, that should follow him until he leaves Earth and ensure that he will do as he said he would. Of course, it’ll do little good if he chooses to return. I doubt we’d be able to catch him a second time.”

“Unless he comes roaring in with the Bifrost,” added Mordo. Loki must know of other paths between the realms, otherwise… “What is Asgard thinking, letting him run around freely?”

“That, too. I doubt this arrangement was their choice, and if a world that has had a thousand years worth of experience in dealing with him can’t control him…”

“Then what hope do we have,” finished Mordo, less than thrilled by the implications of this. “Still, he’s not invincible. The Avengers took him down and we weren’t doing too badly before entering the mirror dimension. If it comes to that.”

“The Avengers needed a team of six rather extraordinary people, including another god,” said the Ancient One with a faint smile. “And all they seem to have managed to do is to slow him down for a bit.”

“He clearly has access to some powerful dark magic,” said Mordo, the memory bringing a new wave of worry with it. “To manipulate the mirror dimension as he did.” He grimaced. “I understand why we let him go, but…”

“But you wish we hadn’t,” she said, nodding. “It isn’t an easy choice to make. But his magic is of a different kind to ours, from a far older and more peculiar source. He draws it from inside himself, and its nature does not pose any threat to the order of things. Only his actions can do that.”

Again, this was of only limited comfort to Mordo. He wasn’t sure why it really mattered where the dark magic came from - its presence was bad enough. He sighed. “What do you think he wants? Really?”

“I don’t know.”

“His weapons story was… It was odd, wasn’t it? And maybe I could see his type coming here just to foster chaos. But he didn’t seem to _want_ to fight us.”

“Which makes me believe he might have been sincere when he said he doesn’t want any trouble. If this is part of some new grand scheme of his, he’s certainly going about it in a rather strange way, wouldn’t you say?”

Mordo nodded. “That reminds me. We should probably be getting back to Kamar-Taj.”

She chuckled. “Worried about what a certain someone’s been up to?”

“Among other things,” said Mordo, smiling too. “So, do you think we should take him off the watchlist?”

A pause. “I think that might be a little hasty. There has to be some room between paranoia and foolishness for us to operate in.”

“With appropriate caution.”

“As long as it does not lead to fear. You did well, Mordo. We showed him a little of Earth’s strength. He is used to being able to make humans - and I imagine many other beings - shake in terror with his mere presence. And if we are to prepare for the challenges the wider universe has to offer, we may have to earn the respect of many such persons.”

“Lucky Earth still has _some_ strong defences.”

“Yes,” said the Ancient One, as she opened the portal. A hint of a frown crossed her face before disappearing. Presumably the continuing worry that was Kaecilius. “That is rather fortunate.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please do leave comments, kudos, check out my [Tumblr](https://arimabat.tumblr.com), etc.


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